This should be Kenya’s agenda for this year

Each year, it is customary for individuals to make resolutions to guide their year-long journey.

The following represents such a set of aspirations geared towards catalysing results, impact and transformation. Usually, the political class develops manifestos for our consumption. Time is ripe for Kenyans to crowdsource their vision, national agenda and an authentic peoples’ manifesto.

Kenya’s law is applied selectively.

The rich are usually above the law; they can buy justice. The poor are subject to the law.

For example, most inmates or victims of extrajudicial killings are young males below 35 years.

MARGINALISED

Often, the law is used to dispossess the marginalised. Henceforth then, all should be equal before the law.

Further, Kenyans should be involved in genuine people-driven public participation.

The time when the political class made decisions for the citizenry is history.

Under article 1 of the Constitution, the people are the sovereign while government leaders exercise delegated power.

Many disputes are settled by administrators and elders at the grassroots.

Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, driven by ordinary citizens, should become the norm.

COUNTY COURTS

Even county governments should have courts to enforce county legislation.

A new feature of the 2010 Constitution was the establishment of independent offices and commissions.

The Executive, Legislature and Judiciary must adhere to separation of powers and the doctrine of checks and balances.

All elected and non-elected leadership must be based on ethical values and servanthood; it must be transparent and accountable.

Between 1988 and 2010, Kenyans paid a heavy price in pursuit of their democratic constitution.

We must jealously guard especially the devolution and human rights gains of the 2010 Constitution.

Any future constitutional changes should only enhance such content, not negate it.

It is necessary to guarantee the full implementation of the Constitution.

UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAWS

Parliament should desist from passing unconstitutional laws, while the Judiciary, when petitioned, should annul illegal laws.

Annually, the country’s chief executive should lay before Parliament and county assemblies a report on the status of the implementation of the Constitution.

To safeguard devolution, there should be a costing of national and county governments’ Schedule 4 functions.

Distribution of public resources should be premised on such costing.

Indeed, a study should be carried out regarding how the national budget has been deployed in districts and counties since 1963.

Future distribution of public resources should correct such historically lopsided development.

SUB-REGION ECONOMIES

The economies of Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania in our sub-region are increasingly surpassing the Kenyan economy.

Debate must therefore ensue on how to achieve a robust economy built on the country’s comparative advantage.

Inclusive wealth creation and economic well-being in keeping with county visions – Vision 2030, Big Four Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals, 2030 and Africa Agenda 2063 – must be guaranteed. Affirmative action for women, persons living with disability, senior citizens and marginalised groups and minorities is key.

However, Kenya’s development effort must also focus on how the middle class and the private sector generally will be engines of economic growth, entrepreneurship and hence job creation.

REVAMP SMES

The cooperative movement and small and medium enterprises must be revamped. Kenya needs to soundly invest in the private sector so as to guarantee regional and even global competitiveness.

At Berlin the Conference of 1885 — 1886, several “Kenyan” tribes or nations were lumped together.

Unfortunately, independent governments have reproduced divide-and-rule politics. As the Building Bridges Initiative Report has suggested, it is time to seriously work on developing one nation.

In his book, The Corruption Cure: How Citizens & Leaders Can Combat Graft, Robert 1. Romberg writes: “As the better leaders know, to end corruption in a nation or a community it is necessary to cut off the head of the snake and to send ripples of the dismay down its sinewy musculature to a distant tail’ (2017:224).

The political will from above to fight graft is paramount in slaying corruption.

In Kenya, the President has identified corruption as an enemy of development. If corruption is to be successfully combated, vast resources will be released to development.

CORRUPTION

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has established that the country in 2018 lost Sh608 billion to corruption.

To aggressively fight corruption, the EACC should be made a constitutional organ with prosecutorial power and adequate funding.

The Judiciary should be well resourced. Public servants, their relatives and associates should be barred from engaging in business with the government.

At the point of entry into public service, a lifestyle audit should be carried out and subsequently annual wealth declarations done and made public.

All public procurement should be conducted through open contracting so that citizens have full access to procurement information.

In January 2003, Kenya’s public debt was approximately Sh633 billion, in March 2013, Sh1.794 trillion and currently Sh5.968 trillion.

Heavy government borrowing denies the private sector loans.

There should be a national debate on the long-term effects of public debt, what the debt is used for and how the debt will be retired.

Genuine youth empowerment in education, skills development, job creation, entrepreneurship, talents development, financial inclusion and leisure is critical.

RESTIVE YOUTH

About one-third of Kenya’s population consist of youth, who are becoming restive.

Recently at the Bomas of Kenya, the youth speaker requested for a presidential round table on the youth agenda.

This should be initiated at the county level and then escalated to the chief executive.

The havoc caused by drought and floods in Kenya has clearly demonstrated that environmental degradation and climate change are serious national, and indeed global concerns. We need to resolutely address climate change.

Kenya has in the past been touted as a regional hub in eastern and central African region.

The country is currently seeking to sit at the UN security council.

It should continuously endeavour to achieve mutually beneficial relationship with the rest of Africa and beyond. A leadership roles in the creation of free trade in Africa will serve the country well.

Professor Kibwana is Governor of Makueni County